Lahainaluna High School’s Lola Donez signs her National Letter of Intent for the University of California at Berkely on Wednesday, as her parents Jayme and Jason look on. Glen Pascual photo
Lola Donez officially started one basketball journey Wednesday as she prepares to end another at home.
Donez, a 5-foot-11 combo guard, signed her National Letter of Intent to play for the University of California, Berkeley next season — the gathering for the signing took place in the Lahainaluna High School library in front of dozens of friends, classmates and family.
After playing in a few unsanctioned games as a freshman at Lahainaluna in the 2020-21 season wiped out by COVID, Donez transferred to Oaks Christian (Calif.) High School to play for the last two seasons.
With college teams’ interest already strong, she made the decision to move home to play her senior season.
“I’m back home,” Donez said via phone prior to practice on Wednesday. “Signing that document, it was definitely nerve-racking today. It was great, I was really excited. I was nervous at first, but I had a lot of support there from just teammates, the boys basketball team, people I’ve grown up with, people who have raised me.
Lola poses with her parents Jayme and Jason. Photo courtesy of Jason Donez
“A lot more people came than I was expecting. It was just really cool to have that, so to sign that in front of them, it just felt really good. To know that I get this education, this opportunity for the next four years, it’s awesome.”
Her decision to come home was made before the wildfire that devastated Lahaina on Aug. 8, and she arrived home just a few days before that.
“I just decided to come home probably in like June, July, and then I ended up coming home three or four days before the fire and on the day of the fire I was actually supposed to have my first day of school,” Donez said. “But, yeah, it’s definitely hard, it’s definitely been tough on everybody and just the community and everything, but definitely just having us back on campus and being able to just have sports going again, it’s definitely helping us get through it.”
As a junior for Oaks Christian, Donez averaged 13.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.7 steals per game on her way to being named the Marmonte League Player of the Year. She and fellow Cal signees Gabrielle Abigor and Kamryn Mafua were also teammates on the Jason Kidd Select AAU team that won the Select 40 national championship in July.
“Lola is a dynamic and explosive guard that can create her own scoring opportunities,” Cal coach Charmin Smith said in a press release announcing the Golden Bears’ signings Wednesday afternoon. “Her length and athleticism will help us improve our defensive presence! She was assigned to guard some of the top players in the nation during her run to the Select 40 national championship this past summer.”
Lahainaluna’s Lola Donez laughs with classmates at her signing ceremony Wednesday. Glen Pascual photo
Donez will be joining the Golden Bears as they embark on their first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference after leaving the Pac-12. But first, she has business to finish in West Maui.
Donez cannot wait to wear an official Lady Lunas jersey for the first time. She rattles off names like Cameron Fernandez, Maiki Tihada, and Fiemea Hafoka as former Lahainaluna standouts she remembers wanting to be like.
“I’m really excited to be home, I had an idea that I would come home for senior year, we just never really knew for sure,” she said. “So to actually just be back home with everybody I’m super grateful, I’m really happy to be home.
“To actually put on a Lahainaluna jersey and play for the Lunas … I’m just really excited for this year. To be able to spend my last year with people I really grew up with. To graduate with them now, it’s something I’ve been dreaming about since I was younger, so it’s awesome. It’s really cool.”
* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.
Lola Donez will be joining the Golden Bears for their first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference after leaving the Pac-12. Photo courtesy of Jason Donez
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